Different Auctions for Different Purposes

What do you think of when someone says the word “auction”, or says that they are going to an auction? Do you immediately think of a bunch of upper-class people dressed to the nines, sitting on fancy chairs, silently holding up a paddle to bid (or lightly touching their nose or giving an almost imperceptible nod of the head) while an auctioneer is dressed in a tuxedo with tails and the ringers in evening gowns and tuxes show off the items like Vanna White? Or do you envision of a bunch of county farmers chewing on strands of straw, standing around a barn yelling “Yep!” each time they want to bid on a bunch of old rusty stuff? Or perhaps you think of a bunch of items on a table with a piece of paper on them and people write down their bid and then keep walking around enjoying the fair, coming back on occasion to see if they’ve been outbid?

Postcard from the 1960’s of an outdoor auction

Obviously, the word “auction” means different things to different people.

So, if you’ve looked at some of the past blogs, you’ll notice that we’ve referenced a couple different types of auctions. Hopefully, by the time you finish reading this blog, you’ll understand what each main type of auction is, and why that type of auction is chosen. The easiest reason why there are so many different types of auctions? Different reasons may lead you to try a different type of auction. Different strokes for different folks.

Live Auction: A live auction is your traditional auction. Within this, you have a couple different variations. There is the auction house / ballroom format, and the on-site or on-location auctions. These are open or transparent auctions in that people know what the other person is bidding and who is doing the bidding because you can see them. Let’s take a closer look at both of these.

Auction House: At an auction house or a ballroom auction, the auction is held in a large room. The auctioneer stands at the front of the room and items/lots are brought to the front by ringers to be auctioned off by the people in attendance. Each auction house has its own “flavor”. Some favor a very quiet bid floor where people hold up their little paddles and nobody other than the auctioneer says anything (or much of anything). Other auctioneers like a bit more life in their auctions and encourage people to move around and be vocal about their bids. This type of auction lends itself best to consignments and may have several different sellers. If you only have a couple choice items to sell, this may be the way to do it.

On-Site / On-Location: If when someone says “auction”, this is what most people envision. You drive out to the location, usually someone’s home, and the auctioneer conducts the auction, often moving around from one area to another to auction off items. Sometimes this is called an estate auction, as people are auctioning off a great many items from their estate to the highest bidder. To paraphrase Forest Gump: “An estate auction is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to find to bid on”.

On-Line Auction: This has become more popular as the internet has gained popularity. Perhaps you have items to sell and want to reach a larger audience than just your city and surrounding burgs. Yes, now, you too can enjoy some of the benefits of an auction in the comfort of your own home. You don’t even have to change out of your jammies if you don’t want to. To take part in an online auction, you simply register as a bidder (including your credit card number to secure your bids), then scroll through the items for that auction. Then if you see something you really like, you type in the amount you want to bid, click a button and Viola! You are now the high bidder on a basketful of great-grandma Johanna’s handmade aprons and embroidered dishtowels! Or not. You might have already been outbid by someone who placed a higher maximum bid. But more on THAT in a latter blog.

Vintage Aprons

Sealed Bid Auction: This is usually when something of greater value (selling a home perhaps) or a contracting a service (like the city is looking for sealed bids on the construction of the new pavilion in the city center) is being considered and when confidential bids are preferred. People put down their bid (and sometimes terms) in an envelope, seal it, and deliver it to a certain place by a specific time. The party involved in the selling/purchasing will then look at the bids and make their decision.

Silent Auction: This is a very quiet auction. No talking aloud. Ok. Not really. But it is quiet in the sense that there is none of the traditional auctioneer banter and no one calling out bids. Often people donate items for a silent auction in the hopes of raising money for some charity or event. In front of each item is a piece of paper. Often the paper states the approximate value of the item. People then write down their name and the amount of their bid. Then the next person sees it, decides they want it, and records their name and a higher bid amount. The silent auction has a set ending time when people can come to see if they managed to win the gift certificate for a pedicure, pay for their pedicure voucher, and take it home.

Now, obviously, there are a few more specific auction types within these auctions mentioned above. There is the absolute auction, the reserve auction and the minimum bid auction, just to name a few. But I won’t confuse you with those now. I’ll save that for another time.

8 thoughts on “Different Auctions for Different Purposes”

Online auctions are the ones that I am most familiar with. It is the easiest way I have found to join auctions. However, I think it is worth it to go to live auctions. There is more energy and I think there are often better items available.

This is a great explanation of all the different types of auctions that exist are today. I usually think of people coming together and bidding in person , so I’m glad to be reminded of the sealed bid and the silent auctions. Your next article should be about the reasons why some auctions are held, such as a going-out-of-business sale, charity, or an estate sale.

It’s interesting to read about some of the different types of auctions such as silent auctions and online auctions. It makes sense that these could be helpful in some situations while standard auctions house would be good for others. It’s something to remember just to make sure the auction house my brother uses would be effective in selling his things.

For some reason people know that I am very involved in the community so they bring me all their things that they don’t need any more. They are in hope that I can put their old things in use to help the community. Lately, my garage has been packed. I don’t have time to find the perfect homes for all the things I have. Right now, I am hoping that I can do an auction that will raise money for the community. Thank you for letting me know the different types of auctions. I loved how you shared that, “A live auction is your traditional auction. Within this, you have a couple different variations. There is the auction house / ballroom format, and the on-site or on-location auctions. These are open or transparent auctions in that people know what the other person is bidding and who is doing the bidding because you can see them.”I’ll need to make sure I find the perfect auctioneer service.

My sister has an auction invitation this coming weekend. It’ll be her first time attending to that kind of occasion. She’s not even aware of the terminologies being used there that is why I am gathering more information about it. I will definitely be forwarding this article to her. Thank you, Luanne!

Thank you for pointing out that a live auction is a traditional auction. Making sure you have the best auctioneer for your auction seems like it could be very helpful. Hopefully, anyone planning an auction looks into finding the best auctioneer possible.